Day 2!

[impy]

2.) Least favorite sitter:
I see you, little meme. Trying to stir up trouble already. Tsk tsk. I really don't know how to answer this, though. Do I go with Jessi, who tended to just be the dancer of the group and seemed to exist to just dance in and out of meetings and occasionally show up when the plot needed sign language? That feels like a cop out, especially since I think Jessi had moments where she was pretty awesome. Also, I love her friendship with Mal and Mal would never forgive me for saying Jessi was my least fav.

Ghostwritten Kristy? But that feels like a cheat since it's a very specific Kristy and honestly, I think I'd have to narrow it down even more since not all ghosties treated everyone in the same way. I will say that Kid!me was not a huge fan of Kristy books because I did not care one little bit about sports and once the Krushers were a thing (which happened pretty much right after I found the series) I knew I'd never be safe in a Kristy book again. :P However, adult!me has a serious soft spot for early Kristy and also I have a vivid memory of trying to convince my mother that a friend of mine wasn't all bad, she was just very Kristy Thomas-ish. Mom replied that she did not really care for Kristy, be it in fiction or apparently in reality. So no, not Kristy.

Logan? Yeah, we'll go with Logan. He was part of the club before Jessi, Mal, Abby, and even Shannon and I don't think I really could tell you too much about him. Part of this could've been that he didn't really get a lot to do, being an associate member and all, and part of it could be that he was pretty much Mary Anne's boyfriend (except when he wasn't) and that's all my kid mind needed to know. Adult me just never really formed an opinion or cared much one way or the other. I don't hate him but I don't really have an opinion beyond "eh" and that I think qualifies for least favorite.

Comments

[luxken27]

Yay for the Jessi love, such as it is :P Doing a pointed re-read of her books has definitely made me appreciate her more, and hate what the ghostwriters did to her. Lerangis was seriously the worst, I have no idea why so many people love his BSC stuff. He more than anybody else ruined the girls with their one-trait personalities.

[impy]

For Jessi, I enjoy the hell out of her when I read her books (and seriously, Mal and Jessi's friendship is ♥ ) but then I forget pretty much everything that happened. Also, really don't like her I'm gonna be a STAR moments, but I think most of those fall under ghosties so ehhhhhh.

I always chalked the Lerangis stuff up to humor. But since I never paid attention to the ghosties (perhaps when I embark on this re-read?) I'm the worst person to figure this out.

[luxken27]

Yeah, that's what prompted me to start this re-read: the fact that the only Jessi book I could look at and remember the A plot was #36 Jessi's Baby-sitter. (Okay, and #68 Jessi and the Bad Baby-sitter, Wendy's hard to forget). I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed her first couple of books, but I think it was too much when she was made the lead dancer in Sleeping Beauty in #42 Jessi and the Dance School Phantom, especially since she was the youngest in the class, and the character was supposed to be 16. No way an 11-year-old would ever pass for 16.

Definitely look for Lerangis's influence in mid- and late canon. What kills me is that he more or less wrote all of Ducky's books in CA Diaries and I really liked them (until he went a bit too OTT in the last one, lbr).

[impy]

Ahhhh, yeah. I don't remember much aside from #36 and... crap, there's another one I think I tend to forget til I open the book and literally by page two I've remembered everything.

Jessi's dancing went from being something she loved but didn't necessarily want to be her entire world to being the only damn thing about her (unless I'm misremembering) and it made me sad since there was so much more to explore.

If, at 11, you're passing for 16, then you're probably hosed for the rest of your life because that's some funky aging process going on. So nope, not buying. Not even with stage makeup.

I thought he did most of the CDs? Dammit, brain, remember the important stuff! And Ducky love. ♥

[luxken27]

You are 100% right about Jessi's dancing becoming her #1 personality trait. Reading her books in succession, it railroads you. Remember when she liked telling jokes? And her ability to pick up new languages?

I know for sure that Lerangis wrote Ducky's books. I think he did write most of the CA Diaries, though I can't see him doing Sunny's about her mother's death, or Maggie's eating disorder. I'll haveta go back and check, maybe I'm not giving him enough credit :P